From disaster damage assessment to finding those stranded in need of a rescue, Louisa County Emergency Management showed the many ways a recently purchased piece of equipment will help area emergency agencies during the recent Washington County Riverboat Foundation meeting. 

Following the foundation board’s meeting on October 6th, Louisa County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hall provided a demonstration to the board to show the functions of a new drone that was purchased with the support of the foundation’s spring small grant cycle. Due to the previous drone having outdated technical support, Hall sought to purchase an updated model. The foundation approved a $5,000 grant to help toward the $7,200 price tag. Hall explains why having this is an important part of the agency’s services, “Specifically for emergency management, we have a lot of floods and in Louisa County we have a lot of levies. So in bad weather, in times of high water, those levies are saturated and become unstable and we still have people out monitoring those. So now with the drone we can fly drones down to monitor those in unsafe conditions.”

Hall received the new drone in the last month as the Louisa County Board of Supervisors had to approve a budget amendment after the foundation approved the grant last May. Foundation Board President Shawn Ellingson was happy to give the grant check to Hall after his demonstration. Hall adds that he is ready to assist other Louisa County agencies and those in the surrounding area, as the drone features a thermal imaging camera and one-way communication so he can send audio messages to people in need of rescue.